Maybe you have seen protesters in pictures or on TV holding “Stop fracking” signs and speaking about environment protection. They are part of a large population in the U.S. that sees the relatively new method of getting natural gas out of rock deep in the earth as disturbing. Chemicals are used and released in the process, and health and environmental advocates attack the process as potentially toxic.
The Huffington Post shares the results of a new study that supports the idea that fracking is bad for the earth and the population’s health. Researchers studied livestock from farms that were near areas where fracking was taking place and found some troubling issues among the animals.
According to the study, livestock was apparently affected by the chemical process by not producing as much milk, for example, and in extreme cases, dying suddenly. The researchers behind the study suggest that the health effects on animals could very well be mirrored within humans who live in high-risk areas close to fracking.
The theory against the drilling process is that the chemicals involved are released into the air as well as the groundwater. Exposure to the toxic elements, opponents argue, puts animals, humans and the overall environment at risk of suffering. Arguing against the big heads behind the gas industry, however, sure doesn’t go without much debate.
Fracking isn’t going to stop any time soon, but researchers from this study as well as many other people in the country are at least asking for more thorough and honest investigations into the short-term and long-term effects of the drilling process.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Fracking Makes Livestock Sick, Says Recent Study of Natural Gas Drilling On Animal and Human Health,” John Platt, Dec. 6, 2012